View report page

Deaths.
The deaths registered during 1926 as having taken place in
the Borough were 3,395. The corrected number of deaths found
by deducting 897 deaths of non-residents who died in the Borough
and adding 540 deaths of inhabitants of Camberwell who died
elsewhere, was 3,038. The corrected death rate for Camberwell
for 1926 was 11.0 as compared with 11.1 for 1925.
Cancer.
There were 397 deaths from cancer in 1926 as compared with
350 in 1925. This is the largest number of deaths from this
disease ever recorded.
Many and varied are the theories propounded as to the cause
of cancer, and of recent years it has been the subject of great
public interest. The cause of this disease, however, still remains
obscure. We know it to be the most formidable calamity
afflicting mankind, and during the last 20 years the death rate
has increased 20 per cent.
Cancer is at first a local, not a general disease, and therefore
our main object should be to secure early diagnosis and operative
treatment. It has been the custom in Cmberwell for some years
to leave a pamphlet, which contains information as to the early
signs and symptoms of this disease in various organs, at every
house where a birth takes place, in order to impress on the minds
of the people the importance of early medical advice for suspicious
cases.
The opposition raised to the distribution of the pamphlet on
the ground of instilling fear can be discounted. It is more likely
that the knowledge it contains has exactly the opposite effect.
Respiratory Diseases.
333 deaths were due to bronchitis, 226 to pneumonia (all
forms), and 34 to other diseases of the respiratory organs, as
compared with 324 bronchitis, 297 pneumonia (all forms), and
41 other diseases of the respiratory organs in 1925.
Violent Deaths.
71 deaths occurred under this heading as compared with 82
for the previous year.